CHAPTER |12
1313 Words
Amarahh’s POV
The chef came out too and his face was full of guilt. "This happened because of my kitchen."
I gave a weak smile that did not stay. "It happened under my hands too."
Grace stepped closer. "At least wait until tomorrow morning."
I shook my head. "No."
Marcus appeared from the hallway. He had probably just returned from speaking with someone.
His eyes settled on my bag. "You really decided."
"Yes."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he did not. Instead, he opened the front door himself and the night air hit immediately.
And then the rain began with a heavy sudden cold.
Grace gasped. "Wait until it slows."
But I stepped out anyway because staying one more second felt harder than rain. By the time I reached the gate, my dress was soaked.
The guard looked uncertain but opened for me. Outside the compound, the road was nearly empty.
Streetlights blurred through rainwater and tears I walked because I had nowhere clear to go.
Not back to Alaocha.
That thought came immediately, and I could not return there. Not while Casper still waited like he owned every road around my mother's house.
Not while he still frightened neighbors, not while my leaving had likely made him angrier. I tightened my bag strap and kept walking.
Cars passed occasionally and nobody stopped. My slippers filled with water and my body felt heavy.
The city looked endless at night when you had no destination. I thought of finding a cheap room. But the money in my purse was not enough for more than one night, maybe less.
And if Aiden decided to ask questions later, the false identity papers became another danger.
So I kept moving until the streets became quieter.
A half-finished building stood near a quieter road, dark except for one distant security light from another compound.
No workers, no guards , only concrete pillars and open floors. I stood outside for a long moment while rain continued falling.
Then I stepped inside, and the floor was rough and cold. One corner upstairs had enough cover from the rain. I climbed slowly and sat there, hugging my bag.
The night air cut through my wet clothes. I could still hear traffic far away, but here, nobody looked at me.
Nobody asked who I was, nobody blamed me aloud that made the silence hurt more. I pulled my knees closer and cried fully then.
Not carefully, not quietly, I cried because I had nowhere to sleep. Because I had lost the only work keeping me hidden.
Because I did not know whether Ava would wake up angry or scared. Because my mother would worry if she knew where I sat tonight.
And because, for the first time since leaving Alaocha, Riverton no longer felt like an escape.
It felt just as uncertain.
***********
Days passed slowly after I left the Hart house.
At first, I counted each morning because I thought something would change quickly.
It did not.
The unfinished building became the only place I could call mine, even though it had no door, no proper floor, and no comfort.
I chose one corner on the second level where the rain did not reach too much. I folded my extra dress to use as a pillow and wrapped my bag around my arm each night because I was afraid someone would steal the little I had left.
The first night had been the hardest.
By the third night, my body had started accepting the rough concrete.
By the fifth, I already knew which hours were safest to sleep and when workers from nearby sites passed early in the morning.
I woke before sunrise every day. I washed at a public tap two streets away before people gathered there.
Then I searched for work until one small café finally agreed to take me in. It was not a proper job with paper.
Just cleaning tables, washing plates, wiping floors, and helping arrange chairs before customers came.
Still, when the owner looked at me and asked, "Can you start today?" I almost cried from relief.
The café was small, always warm from the oven, with too many cups and not enough hands.
Blue Cup Café became my place from morning until evening.
The owner, a tired woman named Mrs. Doreen, did not ask too many questions.
That helped. "Just work well," she told me on my first day.
"I will."
"And no lateness."
"Yes, ma'am."
The pay was small, but it gave me enough for food and a little hope. I learned quickly how to move around customers without getting in anyone's way.
I washed cups until my fingers hurt. I scrubbed tables until they looked new. I stayed silent when customers complained. And during every free second, one thought returned.
Ava.
I wondered if she was alright If she had fully recovered. If she asked where I went, if she hated me now.
Sometimes while wiping tables, I would suddenly remember her small face turning red in the kitchen and my chest would tighten so badly I had to stop for a moment.
Once, Mrs. Doreen noticed. "You look sick."
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I am just tired."
She looked unconvinced but said nothing else.
At night, after the café closed, I usually carried leftover bread she allowed me to take and walked back toward the unfinished building before it got too dark.
That night, the sky had already turned fully dark before I left. The road near the building was quieter than usual.
A few cars passed. I held my bag tightly and walked faster. The streetlights were weak there. The unfinished building stood ahead, only a little further.
Then voices came behind me. The male voices laughter first. Then footsteps, I tightened my grip and kept walking.
"Hey."
I did not turn another voice came closer. "We are talking to you."
I walked faster a hand grabbed my arm suddenly. I gasped and tried to pull away three men. Young, smelling of alcohol, one stood too close, already smiling badly.
"Why are you rushing?"
"Leave me alone," I said immediately.
One laughed. "Listen to her."
I tried stepping back, but another blocked my way.
"Please let me pass."
The tallest one looked at my bag. "What do you have there?"
"Nothing."
He pulled at it I held it tighter, which annoyed him.
His smile disappeared. "We said stop fighting."
I tried shouting, but one hand covered my mouth in fear, hit fully, then I kicked hard, one cursed loudly, another slapped me.
The force made my head turn sharply. The pain came immediately my bag fell.
"Stubborn girl," one said.
I bent quickly to grab it, but another pushed me down my knees hit the rough road.
"Please," I managed.
They laughed again one dragged me by the arm, another struck my shoulder when I resisted.
Pain spread quickly. I tried screaming louder. A blow landed near my side the world blurred for a second, then another hit.
I fell harder this time one of them bent lower, grabbing my dress roughly.
"Leave me!"
The words came broken and another voice said, "No one is here. Stop shouting."
Then suddenly, bright light flooded the road. Strong headlights all three men froze the light came directly toward us.
A car, fast the men stepped back immediately the car stopped sharply close enough that dust rose around us.
For one second, nobody moved, then the front door opened.
A tall figure stepped out. my breathing stopped even before I saw his full face clearly, I knew.
Aiden.
He shut the car door slowly. The light from the vehicle behind him made his expression hard to read at first.
But his voice came cold enough for all four of us to hear.
"What exactly is happening here?”
- Writer
